The good news is coming thick and fast these days for Genscript Biotech Corp. (1548.HK). In early January, it disclosed that China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) accepted its new drug application (NDA) for Cilta-cel , a chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy being developed by its Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN) subsidiary. Last Wednesday, it announced that sales of the new drug, marketed in the U.S. under the Carvykti name for treatment of multiple myeloma, reached $55 million in last year’s fourth quarter.

Carvykti is the first CAR-T cell therapy developed by a Chinese company, and gained global reach through a 2017 partnership between Legend and Janssen Biotech, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ). The product was approved a year ago by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat adults with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who have received at least four lines of therapy. It then obtained conditional approvals in the EU and Japan.

Under their collaboration, Janssen was required to make an initial $350 million payment to Legend, as well as subsequent milestone payments, in exchange for a 50% interest in Cilta-cel’s overseas market rights and a 30% interest in Greater China. On that basis, Legend Biotech should record at least $167 million in revenue last year, consisting of $67 million in sales revenue and two $50 million milestone payments from Janssen in February and April. That income marks a major turning point for a subsidiary that lost $304 million in 2020 and $386 million in 2021, contributing to Genscript Bio’s own losses during those years.

With Cilta-cel proven to work well as a late-line therapy, Legend and Janssen are now turning their attention to its potential use as an earlier treatment. That effort encompasses several follow-up clinical development programs, including multiple Phase 3 studies of Cartitide-4, Cartitide-5 and Cartitide-6. One of those programs was the subject of last week’s announcement, which said Cartitide-4 had reached the primary endpoint in Phase 3 trials for treatment of adults with relapsed and lenalidomide-refractory multiple myeloma.

In its latest research report on Genscript, Jefferies said the company’s cell therapy business is on the right track, and is expected to obtain more approvals in the future. It upgraded its rating from “hold” to “buy” and sharply boosted its target price to HK$35 from HK$16, meaning it still sees about 20% potential upside from the current price. CICC believes that Genscript reversed its three years of losses in 2022 and will report a net profit of $289 million. It gave the company an “outperform” rating and a target price of HK$31.20.

But even if cell therapy keeps bringing in more revenues, the business continues to incur high R&D and marketing expenses. Genscript said R&D spending in the first half of last year was $177 million due to increased patient enrollment in a number of Phase 3 clinical trials and an increase in its R&D activity. Its sales and distribution expenses rose 49% to $86.94 million during the period due to additional staffing and promotional costs for commercializing new drugs. If Cilta-cel is approved for sale in China this year, the company’s marketing expenses in its home market are likely to rise further still as it commercializes the drug.